A Wasted Chance
by Ghost in the Computer
Summary: One only ever had one chance with the Doctor. He would spare just one, for there were countless more deserving. I wasted mine. Once, he may have called me a friend, but no more. I was a monster in his eyes and in mine. I knew that he was coming, I had no time left, but I couldn't help but think back to before the madness, before the lies and dream that it could have been different.
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One  
_**

It was July thirteenth, in the year 2013 that the summer sun disappeared and snow fell from the cloudless sky. It was a miracle to some, and a hearkening of great terror to others.

The latter was correct.

It was not I who discovered what the 'snow' was truly made from. No, it was the children outside who realized the truth when their screams pierced the frigid air. How horribly ironic that such young creatures would have to be subjected first to the terror that lay beyond our solar system, but such is life, and rarely is it fair.

Ten minutes was how long it took before the first child ran outside to play. I still remember the look of confusion and pain in their eyes as their skin was burned away to nothing. It sent a sharp pain to my chest and I had to sit down for a moment.

I had caused this, I hated myself, but it wasn't the loss of self-respect that worried me. No, _he _would be coming after me. It was _his _hatred that scared me more than anything else. I couldn't run, there was no place safe enough for me to hide. I would die and he would kill me.

I began to cry. In front of a thousand thousand war machines, I cried and didn't care about their harsh gazes. I wanted to remedy this, to begin a new with him in his amazing box, but I knew I could not.

As much as I could pray and dream, one only had a single chance with the Doctor. I had wasted mine foolishly and I would receive no more from him. Even if I begged on my knees, he would show me no mercy. I betrayed him and this was my price to pay. It was not worth it. I thought my choices were so beneficial, I thought for sure he would approve. I was wrong.

I couldn't even lay the blame on the one who made me do this. The monstrosity waging war on my home was of my design, not his. This was my abomination, my mistake, my most prized disgrace. I wondered if my beautifully ugly machines knew how much I loved and despised them. They seemed to realize when I fell to the ground and wept onto the cold metal.

How little they must have thought of me.

I had not intended to display my weakness so freely, but I was so very afraid. The pain that he would cause me would hopefully be less than I imagined. The look in his eye when he would defeat me -for I was certain he would, as I had seen it countless times before- would be the cause of the most pain, however. My Doctor would be furious, but he would also be so disappointed. So very disappointed.

I did not question why I chose to end my very existence and that of countless others, it did not need saying. The orchestrator of my fate was none but myself with the help of someone I trusted. I could not charge him with my actions, even if he had driven me to such drastic measures. He told me that my Doctor would be pleased. I was stupid enough to believe him.

He fed me a million lies and I ate them happily. I do not wish harm upon him, however, he was a good friend. I knew I would miss him when I was dead. I doubted he would miss me.

The smirk on his face was clear as I regained my composure. I wiped my tears away and threw my arm to the side. I let out an in human cry and my shining disgraces marched forward. They advanced on what was once my home and I watched. I hear the screams I felt the Earth being drenched in seven billion tears. Mine included.

I set my jaw firmly. I knew that he would be there soon. He only gave one chance. Just one.

And I had wasted mine.

* * *

_July 13th, 2007. Six years earlier. _

In the light of the setting sun, the world seemed less ugly.

The sky was cloudless and blue as the sea it draped over, as if someone had placed a mirror between Heaven and the land. I remember the water was so frightfully cold for the unnatural heat of that summer. It sent a jolt through my system and flooded my brain with its numbness. Those were good times, simpler times.

They were times when I could be trapped in the little bubble that was the Earth and assume I was utterly alone. Ignorance was always bliss, I knew that even back then, but it did not stop me from being curious. My best friend swam right beside me, while I chattered away and clutched my sun-burnt shoulders. Good Lord, I was so very pale before my descent. I remember struggling with the conflicting emotions of anger and excitement. This was before my feelings blended in to one.

By far the most difficult part of my life before was my emotions. They would bump around in my head and confuse me to no end. When I was in school, I sat alone in a brightly colored classroom with a large poster covered with several representations of emotions. My teacher was kind enough to help me make a more portable chart that I still had to use even after I had grown up and had left that classroom far behind as a distant memory.

Emotions perplexed me, and dealing with them was far from simple. I often found myself feeling nothing while others grieved or celebrated around me. Once, every so often on days such as the one I spent on the beach with my friend, my emotions would slip into my brain and the war would begin. They were so potent, so powerful, as if the damn things had been biding their time and growing stronger with every passing second that they decided to be kept bottled away. I had no control over them, they came and went as they pleased.

"Maggie?" My friend would ask as my eyes would close. I could see the emotions in my brain. The fiery red of the anger I felt towards the sun for making my shoulders and back hurt. The icy blue of the excitement danced around the jagged crimson from the chills in the water. Dots of bright green, the color of pure happiness, spotted themselves amongst the cornucopia of other colors when I allowed myself to remember how lucky I was to have a friend amidst so many people who did not understand.

It would take me time to come back to Earth, but until then, Heather held my hand beneath the waves and made sure I did not slip beneath them. After a span of five minutes to fifty minutes, my eyes would open again. By that time, I had sorted out my colors, separating them so they could not mix. Emotions were quite confusing enough as they were, but combinations were enough to bring my mind to ruin.

The first thing I saw when my eyes opened was the setting sun. Behind a thin layer of blue sky, the dark expanse of the universe shone through with its billions of stars. I felt so small then. The sun, in all its burning glory, dipped below the horizon and out of sight. I turned when I felt Heather nudge my arm and she smiled at me, showing me her rows of pearly white teeth. I smile back, but with my mouth instead of my eyes.

Despite the pain that it had caused me, I missed the sun.

"Come on, Maggie." Heather said to me. "I want to show you something." I nodded and forced my frozen legs to kick back to the thin strip of sand that ran at the edge of the sea. The moon was revealed from behind a misty cloud, lighting the way for us as we collapsed into a heap on the shore.

The white grains of sand were still warm from the bleaching sun that had set an hour before. It felt nice underneath my skin, but Heather was impatient.

"Here, put this on." She commanded in the most gentle voice possible, handing me a white blouse with blue applique on the neckline, hem and sleeves. She did not ask me to put on the thin shirt, she told me to do so, for she knew from experience that giving me a choice was never a smart move on her part.

I tugged the perfume-drenched and slightly itchy blouse over my drying once-piece bathing suit while Heather did the same over her bikini. Heather was never one for modesty, and her outfits showed it. Her thin figure was something to be proud of, at least, that is what she thought. Everything she wore was designed to highlight her slim waist and thighs while I silently watched in amazement and cursed my thicker middle and stouter build.

Despite her flirtatious and, to put it bluntly, slutty choice of wardrobe, Heather was actually a woman in love. She adored her boyfriend with all her heart, and while she appeared superficial and snobby, Heather was a dear friend to me and had been so for several years. We attended the same college, with her in astrology and myself in quantum mechanics and machinery. She loved to look at stars almost as much as I loved to build a prototype.

"Come on!" She let out a shriek of laughter and sprinted along the length of the shore, with me trailing behind her. I felt so jealous then. Its color was purple. I saw no flaws when I looked at Heather, and saw so many when I looked in the mirror. I trudged slowly on purpose just to irk her and took the time to take out a tube of tinted lip balm from the pocket of my blouse. I applied a generous coating to my pale lips and then recapped the container, stuffing it back into my pocket when Heather spun around to glare at me.

"I'll be there is a moment!" Was my defensive statement and my friend lifted a blonde eyebrow.

"You have the pace of a sloth!" She shouted across the sand, her voice carried on the warm, summer wind. "No wonder you came last in track!" I resisted the urge to growl at her. I lost _every_ year. I suddenly remember why Heather was not so flawless; she could say some pretty cutting things.

"Fine. I'm here, what do you want?" I asked when I had crossed the beach. We were standing at the base of a rock formation. I'd never been up here before, as I had never really displayed any interest, but it seemed as though that was about to change. The rock was quite dam and slippery and Heather took my hand and led me up the side of it. I winced as the jagged bits dug into my skin, but didn't freak out.

Callouses were the dominant parts of the palms of my hands. Machinery made sure that I never had soft skin again what with the constant need to use a screwdriver. I still loved my class, and so it was an easy sacrifice. I remember how much pain the blisters had been at first. I cannot help but laugh at how foolish I was. A mere blister being the source of an unbearable pain? It was an idiotic concept. I had known true pain since then, and my flimsy ideas of it were ignorant at best.

I sighed when I reached the top of the rock. The night was so calm, so very beautiful that I almost forgot how annoyed I flet towardsw Heather for dragging me up here in the first place. I still didn't know what she could possibly want to show me, however.

"For goodness sake, Heather!" I exclaimed as a smile overtook her pretty face. "What did you drag me up here for?" She just giggled and shrugged, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Look up." She said calmly. I rolled my eyes, but did as I was told. I lay down on my back, not caring if my shirt got a bit damp and looked up at the sky.

That was when everything changed.

The sky had always been there, no matter what happened. Be it gray from rain, blue to contrast the bright sun, or a large mass of inky blackness dotted with many stars, it is always there. Despite knowing that, it had been ages since I had looked at the sky. It was on the night that Heather showed me that reopened my eyes to its wonder.

The moon shone bright against the darkness of the night. Here, there and everywhere was dotted with more stars than anyone could ever count in a lifetime. Most of them stayed perfectly still, while others tore across the blackness, leaving behind ghostly white trails. I looked to Heather, who was sitting up, her head tilted towards the sky, her eyes smiling. She looked at me then too, but soon returned to their rightful place.

I am unsure of how long we sat there, staring into the dark, but it didn't matter. I watched the universe above me move and change and no matter how hard I tried, I could not pull my eyes away from its beauty a second time.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two  
_**

_July 14th, 2007. The next day.  
_

One of the theories of quantum mechanics states that the faster you move, the heavier you get. I enjoyed quantum mechanics very much, but I didn't always believe everything our professor lectured us about. If the theory I stated above did turn out to be have been true, I must have weighed four tonnes as I ran down the hallway of the California Institute of Technology.

There are very few things that make a grumpy twenty-two year-old run faster than the speed of light. One of these was the was fear of being caught late by the scariest man in the Universe; Professor Fhorchur, mechanic extraordinaire. Even his name meant 'imposing' in Irish. At least, that's what my grandad told me. I remember my very first class with the awful man. He was brilliant and a genius with machinery, but he didn't seem to like me all that much. At first glance, he seemed nice enough. He had a mop of very messy brown hair and his T-shirts were always stained with oil, but he was relatively polite... to the boys.

"Women and machinery do not mix." Was one of the first things he said to me. I wanted to laugh in his face. While he may have been a mechanical genius, he was beyond an idiot if he didn't think that a university-age female had not seen the film _Titanic_ enough times to know that he has stolen that line from them. Despite that, I did not call his bluff and expose him to my less forgiving male peers. It he wished to make fun of me while I put so much effort into listening and understanding what he was teaching, then so be it.

I had always had a strong work ethic and as paired up with my stubbornness streak that my grandmother said I inherited from my father, I was unwilling to drop the course. Even after the sparse few other women in the class moved on to build less verbally scathing and more socially acceptable skills, I remained behind.

I totaled my hands fixing a sorts of machines and tore up the skin the same way I tore up a scrapped car. I bled and at night I would sometimes cry, but never in front of him. While some of the other boys in the class were desperate to earn his favor, I never strove to achieve that. I accepted since the very beginning that Professor Fhorchur didn't have any interest in teaching and to be honest, I could have cared less if he taught me. I knew basic skills, and perfecting those skills was all I needed to be successful.

I pushed thoughts of my dislike away to the back of my mind where they could exist peacefully as I came upon the school's garage. I huffed a sigh and then pushed open the thick black door, ready to stare hatred in the face as I did any other day. As I rounded the corner, the sound of machinery became more prevalent, but as soon as I walked into the sunlit space strewn with cars, bits of twisted metal and screwdrivers, I found a nice surprise waiting for me.

"Professor Bedrager?" I asked, a huge smile coming to my face. The man had his back turned to me, but I knew that shock of white hair and lab coat anywhere. He turned around and his extremely light green eyes found my gaze and he smiled as well as I set my bag down and walked towards him. I held my hand out and she shook it as I beamed. Today would not be as terrible as I thought, perhaps.

"Miss Walters, I'm happy to see you outside my class." He looked down at my legs which were clad in stained jeans that were lightened from the wash. "And wearing pants, no less!" I blushed from embarrassment as he mentioned my utter hatred towards dress pants of any kind.

"There's a first time for everything, Professor. Even for me." I said, laughing at my own little joke. Professor Bedrager was my most favorite teacher and coincidentally, he taught my most favorite subject; quantum mechanics. The old man was beyond clever and so full of amazing theories. Opposite to Professor Fhorchur, he respected me from the very beginning and seemed genuinely interested in my opinions.

"Yes, well, very good. I am looking forward to today's examination, I always find it quite refreshing to see such a bright student attempting to be well-rounded." I shrugged and walked towards my space, picking up a wrench. That day we were supposed to take apart the faulty engine of a car, find the problem and fix it.

I turned to look at the stations of my other classmates and noticed that merely a fraction were present. This was relatively unusual, especially when I noticed Victor, one of the best students in the class who was never absent, was. I lifted a brown eyebrow and narrowed my eyes a little bit. That was when a red flag went up. I decided to ignore the little inkling I had that something was wrong, and instead went about greasing my tools.

"Harry?" I asked the tall, blonde boy as he walked past. Harry never had a frown on his tanned face, at least I had never seen one, but there he was, walking by my work space looking like a five year-old who had lost their puppy. He didn't turn to look at me right away.

I ducked underneath the flat counter where my tool bench was and came up behind him. I tapped him on the shoulder and he stopped, turning around slowly. I was a bit afraid by that point, but I knew nothing bad could happen. Professor Bedrager was right there and Harry wouldn't and couldn't hurt a fly.

"Are you alright, Harry?" I asked. "You look so lost." The young man tilted his head to the side a bit and then shook his head as if saying 'no'. I raised my eyebrows. "Is there anything you need?" He gave me a distant look and then nodded.

"Doctor." He said in a very quiet voice. I furrowed my brow. "I need... the Doctor..." He sounded a bit like he was drowning, and yet we were nowhere near water of any kind! Still, the way he spoke was not what really had my warning signals flashing. Harry was a macho-man, as in he never _ever_ admitted to being hurt. Victor ran over his hand once and the beefy guy didn't scream, he just got very, very pale.

"We don't have a medical doctor, just nurses." I told him, trying to keep the know-it-all tone out of my voice. Harry shook his head again.

"The Doctor... Doctor... Doctor..." He pushed past me and I watched him go with a raised eyebrow. He was acting so odd. Then again, it was a Monday, everybody was a little bit off and a little bit hungover. I shrugged and returned to my workspace, cleaning off my many screwdrivers and monkey wrenches.

A half of an hour flew by at unimaginable speed and I soon came to the realization that class had not even begun yet. I frowned and looked to wrist watch. That was very odd. I lifted my head and opened my mouth to say something, but I found that I was completely alone. There were only seven other people excluding my favorite Professor anyway, but now the garage was completely vacant and the sun had clouded over.

"That's odd." I said to myself. "Professor Bedrager?" I asked, ducking under the counter and coming up the other side. "Are you here?" I inquired in a louder voice. I walked around one of the cars and had to bite my tongue to keep myself from screaming at what I saw on the ground. "Dear God! Professor?" I shouted, getting down on my knees.

His skin had gone a chalky pale and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. It was a hundred degrees in the heat trap that was the garage and yet his body shook from cold tremors. I pressed a hand to his forehead but had to withdraw it quickly. I looked to my finger tips and gasped when I saw that heat blisters had bloomed on my skin. I looked back down to my Professor and put two fingers against his wrist. I dropped his hand when I realized that his pulse was terribly fast.

I shook his shoulders, trying to wake him up and put him to rights. "Professor?!" I exclaimed as I felt his skin burn through his lab coat. "Professor, please wake up!" I was too busy shouting orders at my half conscious teacher to notice that we were no longer alone in the room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Someone behind me said. I remember thinking '_Lord be praised, someone who actually knows what they're doing!_' My hope was shattered when I turned around.

Standing in the doorway of the garage was the last person I expected to see. Or possibly the first. The trouble was that I had never met him before in my life and found that I could only judge as far as appearance. To be honest; he looked like an utter dolt! He wore a cream dress shirt with black trousers held up by red suspenders and a tweed suit jacket. Around his neck was an admittedly nice bow tie, but the entire ensemble together along with his rather lengthy hair reminded me of the stereotypical nerd you saw every so often on the telly.

"Who are you?" I could keep the biting tone out of my voice. The strange man held his hands up, but still took a step forward.

"I'm the Doctor and once again I ask that you not do that." He said when I put my hands on my Professors shoulders.

"Thank goodness, a doctor!" I said loudly, turning back to my teacher. I kept my hands at bay just as he told me to. I heard the doctor fellow get walk a bit closer to me, but it was still a huge surprise when I felt his hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from y teachers shaking form. I yelped a little bit as his grip was a tiny bit too tight, but he did not let go until we were several meters from the Professor.

I spun around to look the strange man in his green eyes. I was confused beyond all reason and very, very scared. Fear was black to me, and it swirled in front of my vision, blurring my world and threatening to plunge me into darkness. I forced myself to hold the man's odd gaze for a moment before a wide smile came over his mouth. I did not know why, but some of the fear swirled away into nothing when he did so.

"Look at you!" He exclaimed, lifting one of his thin, pale hands and placing it on my cheek. I frowned and blinked once before pushing his hand off of my face.

"Don't touch me." I snapped and he withdrew his hand. He put it back at his side and I gave him my hardest glare, but I had no time to speak to him any longer. Professor Bedrager gave out a startled gasp and his bright eyes flew open. I turned to go back to him but whipped around when the rather rude Doctor grabbed my arm.

"Stay back." He said in a calm voice. I stopped fighting him. There was something so very strange about the way he spoke. It was an ancient voice, one that demanded power and respect. It told you to listen to him, to trust him.

"What do you want me to do then?" I asked, jerking my arm away from him. I looked to my Professor, who seemed to be drowning on land. Suddenly, He sat up straight as a board. His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. He turned and looked to me. His gaze was so frightening. I back up a little bit subconciously as he raised his hand and pointed a finger at me. I looked to the Doctor and then back to my Professor

"I want you to run." He said. And I did.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

When I was five, I asked my grandmother why I saw colors when I closed my eyes. She told me it was my mummy and daddy sending me messages that only I could see. She told me I was special and clever and kind. No matter what, the old woman knew exactly what to say to me to make me feel better no matter what the situation. I found the Doctor to be similar to that as well.

"Run! Now!" I did not know why I turned on my heel and sprinted towards the exit to the garage just like he told me to. I did not know why I found myself stopping after I was outside the door and looking over my shoulder to see if he was coming. I did not care for strangers, they scared me beyond all reason, so why would I trust this odd man?

I had never met him, I would have remember a face and attire such as his. I did not think I knew any of his siblings and yet I found myself wanting to make sure he would not be hurt. Like I said, I turned around to check if he was coming and my mouth fell open at what I saw.

Professor Bedrager was standing by then, rigid and stiff as a board. Water flowed out of his eyes, nose and mouth like several waterfalls. He was disgusting to look at. I couldn't help it, I let out a long scream and my teacher's pale eyes found my dark ones. The Doctor stood before him, showing no fear and holding his hands aloft.

"What are you?" He asked the horrifying being. Professor Bedrager or whatever he was merely pointed at me and clutched his throat. I noticed that the skin on his face and neck was beginning to turn grey and flake off into the air.

"H- her." He stuttered out, pointing to me. The Doctor turned around and his eyes widened.

"Maggie, get out of here." It never occurred to me how this man could know my name. I had never told him, it was almost as if he had read my mind. I was silent however, the time for questions was not then. The Doctor turned back to the creature and asked the same question again with a little more force.

"_What_ are you?" He sounded just barely controlled. I wonder why in Heaven's name he was so angry, I barely knew him!

"I want _her._" My Professor insisted, pointing to me and moving closer to the Doctor, who stepped back.

"Why?" He asked. Instead of repeating himself, my quantum mechanics teacher threw his head back and laughed, making the skin around his neck crack and peel.

"I _need_ her body. I _need_ her brain." I took a step back as well, closing the door a little bit more.

"What for?" My Professor laughed again.

"So thirsty..." He mumbled under his breath. "I need a drink. I need her blood." I felt so afraid. Darkness was everywhere. Despite my fear, amidst the clouds of black, bold, daring, angry red zigzagged through, igniting a flame in my eyes. I took a step back into the room. The creature hissed as if it was pleased.

"Why me?" I asked My voice was stony cold. The horrible creature gave me a watery smile before collapsing into a fit of coughs.

"Teachers go after their prized pupils." He replied in a hoarse voice.

"What did you do with Professor Bedrager?" I asked him, my voice wavering. The red was disappearing, the darkness began to swirl around me again.

"What did you call him?" I snapped my gaze towards the Doctor, who looked almost outraged.

"Professor Bedrager!" I exclaimed and he hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"What do they teach you in schools?" He asked rhetorically and I gave him a confused look. "Bedrager is Norwegian for 'imposter'! He's practically begging you to figure him out!" I gave him a hard glare. I failed French and Spanish almost every year in grade school!

"Well, I don't speak Norwegian!" I snapped at him for the second time in the last ten minutes. From his pocket, the Doctor pulled out a rather odd looking gizmo. It was shaped a bit like one of my screwdrivers, but with a thicker base and it had a bright green light on the tip. Tiny little claw-like things jutted from the end as well, and if you listened closely, it made little noises. It was definitely strange, especially when he pointed it at the temporarily still creature like it would fire a round.

It made a little beeping noise and the Doctor retracted his arm, holding the strange device at eye-level.

"What is that?" I asked him, moving a little closer to him. I know that he told me to run, but I didn't care.

"It's my sonic screwdriver." He replied. He then gestured to my work bench. "It does exactly what yours do but better and with a little more sonic." I frowned, there was no such thing as a sonic screwdriver!

"Like what?" I asked, I found that I could not deny my own curiosity. This man was mad, but he was a puzzle, and goodness gracious did I love puzzles.

"Well, it is telling me that our friend here..." He trailed off and made a noise of pure disgust.

"What?" I asked, growing somewhat impatient.

"Oh, this not good." He said, taking a step back. He did not appear afraid, but merely concerned.

"How not good?" I asked, taking a step back as he did. Something told me to follow his lead. I didn't want to die today.

"Extremely very not good." He summed up and I nodded.

"So now we..."I trailed off and it was his turn to nod.

"Yes, good idea." He spun around on his heel. "Run!" He held his hand out to me and out of habit, I grabbed it. He dragged me out of the garage and I could only spare one look behind me. I wish I had not. The creature, it seemed, had been so still not because it was tired, but because any movement would have shattered its cracked skin.

I looked behind me and I saw the grey monstrosity come alive once more and get down on all fours, its skin falling away and being replaced by hot, red scales. It growled and reared its head back, shedding the white hair and glasses to reveal a horrifying red face covered with large, green sores. Its nose was merely two slits and its large mouth was open wide, black saliva flowing freely onto the floor as it gnashed its six sets of red-stained teeth. Its tongue flapped about as it snarled and I noticed that the creatures eyes were covered by a thick layer of red skin.

I screamed as loud as I could and quickened my pace as the terrible beast sniffed the air and began to chase us. The Doctor was always one step ahead of me, but my mind was not on beating him. I was experiencing something that only ever happened to stupid teenagers in science fiction horror films! It was so terribly exciting, but so awful at the same time. I didn't know what to feel. I forced myself to look at the Doctor, I could not blank out on him. I picked a facial feature that I cannot remember now and focused on it. The Doctor would keep me safe. The Doctor made me less afraid.

"How many people are in the building?" The Doctor asked me in a loud voice as we veered left and ran down an abandoned hallway. I saw teachers in their classrooms look out their door sternly and the realization hit me like a tonne of bricks. The Doctor wasn't saving just me, he was saving the whole building! This monstrous animal wanted blood, and I had a sick feeling that mine would not be enough.

"Most are already at home for summer break, they don't come back until August. There's only a few Professors and around two hundred students taking summer courses, myself included." I replied breathlessly. The Doctor slowed down a little bit, squeezing my hand tighter.

"How do we clear the building?" He asked more to himself then to me. For the first time in my twenty minutes of knowing him, I was one step ahead. The university was too large for a single fire alarm system, but most of the students had been moved to a smaller space. I ran over to the emergency fire kit and raised the connected metal stick, closing my eyes as I brought it down on the glass.

I winced as a few fragment got caught in my skin, making tiny dots of blood appear, but I didn't care for the moment. I grabbed the axe that sat in the fire box and ran towards the nearest lecture hall.

I didn't even bother to knock as I threw door open and barged in. "Get out!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I brandished the axe wildly, letting out all the fear and anger I felt towards the monster. "Get out now! Someone's killed Professor Bedrager!" It seemed as though they believed me, for mass panic ensued. The Professor in charge of the class tried her best to calm her students, but she revived no help at all from me. I turned and ran, grabbing the Doctor's hand.

"But that's just one lecture hall!" He said to me but I shook my head. Four seconds later, the sound of the Professor's voice came over the intercom.

"Everyone remain calm and evacuate the premises immediately. There has been a security breach and we ask that you evacuate the premises immediately." I wasn't an idiot. I knew which lecture halls had access to the P.A system. I looked to the Doctor, who had a curious look on his face.

"You're welcome." I said with a smile, grabbing his hand again.

"Right." He said, snapping back to reality. "Where were we?" He asked just as I heard a growl from behind me. I turned to see that the monster had caught up with us. "Ah yes, we were escaping!" He squeezed the life out of my hand as we ran down the hallway, taking sharp lefts and rights, trying to outrun the creature. Beside us were countless amounts of scared-looking students. All of them cleared a path for us as we ran right through the middle of them. Some of them screamed at the sight, most remained silent.

"Where are we going?" I asked. We couldn't leave, that thing would follow us, right? I looked to the Doctor, who glanced over his shoulder and then sped up. It seemed as though he didn't know either.

"Do you have a biology lab somewhere?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm not in the program, I think it might be this way." I replied. I wasn't a hundred percent sure, as it was not a place I regularly visited. I stayed mostly to the East wing.

"Lead on then." The Doctor said and I pulled him down a hallway, praying that this was the right way.

"Memory, don't fail me now." I whispered. I closed my eyes, trying to picture the hallway. I would know it once I saw it. Left. Left. Right. Left. No! My Left! Right. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the sign on the wall that said 'Biology Wing'. I wanted to dance for joy right then and there, but I knew that I had very little time left.

"Amazing." The Doctor said as he ducked into a lab, my hand still tightly clenched in his.

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"Put those," He gestured to the lab benches. "Up against the door. Don't move them until I tell you." I did as I was told, dragging the benches in front of the door.

"Wait, we're just going to let it in?" I asked. My voice reached an octave no human vocal chord should have.

"Well, we're going to give it what it wants." He said like it was the most natural thing in the world. I admit that I stared at him like he had gone stark, raving mad.

"We're going to _what_?" I shrieked the last bit and the Doctor held a finger to his lips.

"If it's blood the monster wants..." He trailed off, running towards the class room fridge. "Then it's blood the monster gets." He pulled out six packages of the pigs blood I heard the labs were experimenting on. I felt a little sick at the sick of the red liquid, but choked back my gag reflex.

"And then..." I began to ask, but instead he threw an aerosol spray can at me. I smiled and headed towards the microwave. "And then we light this place up like the fourth of July." I opened the microwave and shook up the can, shoving it in and keeping my finger on the timer.I could here the monster coming, but I couldn't care less.

The Doctor and I were ready for it.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

Every once in a while, you lose your mind.

It could be over the biggest catastrophe since World War II, or it could be because an ant decided to make a home in your bread box. Whatever the reason, I promise that none of the compares when you go mad from _waiting._

For some reason, time completely stops when you're waiting for something. It could be something terrible, for an example see above, or it could be for something amazing. The thing I went mad waiting for was certainly _not_ amazing.

"Doctor, where is it?" I hissed, trying to stay quiet.

"It's just outside." He replied, sounding a bit on the distant side. I mentally paled.

"H-how do you know?" The Doctor shrugged.

"I can hear it breathing." He replied rather passively and I shook my head in bewilderment.

"You can what? How?" The Doctor shrugged again.

"I'm the Doctor, I'm special." He replied and I rolled my eyes. I wondered just who this man was. The way he moved was so very strange, as if he was in a state of constant surprise with his surroundings. I spared a glance at him. He did not look at me, his eyes were fixed on the door.

"Doctor what?" I asked quietly. He threw me a dirty look.

"Now you're just being mean." He said in an annoyed voice. I was unsure if I liked his tone. Oh my gosh, I realized that I was turning into my grandmother.

"When will it come in?" I asked and he cocked his head to the side.

"Ten seconds, give or take." He replied quickly. My eyes widened.

"What?" I almost yelled, gesturing to the lab benches.

"Won't those hold?" I asked, almost desperately.

"No." It was a very simple reply, but it confused me.

"Then why put them there in the first place?!" I was utterly finished with being quiet.

"To make it seem like we had no plan, which was a true a minute ago. Now we're ready, and this has only a seventy five percent chance of going completely wrong." My eyes widened to the size of supper plates.

"Seventy five percent?" I asked. The Doctor looked at me with a smile.

"I know. I usually average about... sixty percent." I looked down to the ground in disbelief.

"Sixty percent..." I whispered. "Oh dear, what am I doing?" I asked myself, hitting my forehead with the palm of my hand. "I'm in a biology lab with a mad man hiding from a monster!" I attempted to stay low in volume, but it did not work out that way.

"Alien." The Doctor said and I looked to him.

"What?" I asked and the Doctor made a noise of annoyance.

"The thing behind the door is not a monster, it's an alien. One of the Yara-ma-yha-who." He clarified and my mouth fell open.

"That's an Australian legend!" I hissed under my breath and he nodded.

"That's where it came from. They drink their victims blood and then possess their bodies. Even the weakest can last more than three years." I gagged a little bit.

"Poor Professor Bedrager." I whispered.

"No, he never existed." The Doctor reminded me and I nodded. It was all a front. A trick.

"Right. So I guess this one needs a new body then?" I asked and the Doctor smiled at me again. I liked it when he did that.

"Now you're catching on. You always were very smart." I didn't catch the last bit of what he said. Perhaps it was for the best. "Yes, it does need a new body, but this one's sick." He turned to me. "Did you see those green sores on its face?" I nodded, feeling another wave of nausea infect my system.

"How could I miss them?" I replied with a question.

"Well, those sores were some sort of infection. Not a lot can bring down a Yara-mah-yah-who and I would like to study it, but it could be contagious." I closed my eyes and ordered myself to breath. I had no time for this, I needed to survive.

I heard a banging and I opened my eyes once more, fearing dancing across my vision.

"It's trying to get in!" I whispered urgently as another banging noise was heard.

"Keep your finger on that button." The Doctor said and I nodded, blinking away the fear and slight amount of anger.

"What's the plan then? Walk me through it." I almost ordered. I had yet to realize that one does not simple order the Doctor about.

"No. We need the element of surprise of our hands and in order to do that, you need to be surprised." He sounded so logical and certain of what he was saying, and yet I had to acknowledge that it made no sense. I also highly doubted that microwaving the can would work. Maybe in the movies, perhaps, but in real life, it would take just a little bit more.

"Wait." I said, stepping away from the microwave and throwing open a drawer. I squished up a handful of tinfoil, popping open the microwave and shoving it in. "Adds a bit of kick." I explained to the Doctor, who lifted an eyebrow.

"Can't be too careful." He replied and I nodded.

"When do I press the button?" I asked, wincing as another banging noise was heard as the alien bashed up against the door. I could see that it was giving way; we didn't have much time left.

"You'll know." The Doctor replied. I didn't have the time to ask him when because two seconds after he (almost) told me what to do, the benches finally gave way and the door swung open, still intact. I screamed as the Doctor ripped open the blood packages and tossed it on the ground. The creature ran at him, but the Doctor dodged as the alien attacked the blood packets tearing the plastic and making a spattered mess.

I knew that now was the time. I pressed the button on the microwave while the creature was distracted.

"Run!" I shouted as I grabbed the Doctors hand, pulling him from the room and slamming the door behind me. I had never been a very fast runner, but that did not stop me from bolting faster than ever before. The Doctor was right beside me as I veered left, heading for the exit. My pace never faltered as the big, red sign that jutted out above the double doors grew closer and closer. My heart pounded so hard in my chest that I thought my ribcage would break. It did not and I pushed the door open with all my might, running as far away as possible.

I whipped around in time to see the blast completely cave in the windows. Smoke circled in the air as I collapsed onto the grass, my breathing uneven.

"That was not smart." I said quietly. The Doctor looked to me. "They're going to catch me. I'm going to be kicked out of school." I felt like my stomach was shrinking at an alarming rate. I wondered what in the world just happened as I pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Look! There she is!" I turned my head to see the what could have possibly been the oddest sight of my life. The most uptight, strict human being I had ever met who went by the name of Vice Principal Baxter was walking towards me with paramedics, firemen and three police officers trailing behind her.

Her usually tight hair bun was now hanging loose around her shoulders and her high heels were missing. She had shed her blue blazer and her glasses were askew. She looked like such a mess that it almost made me laugh. Somehow I managed to control myself long enough for her to get in a close enough proximity to throw her arms around my neck and drag me into a bone-crushing hug.

"What?" I asked as she pulled back.

"Thank God. One of the students said you were chased into the biology lab by the murder and then with the explosion..." She trailed off and her voice cracked. "We thought for sure you were... " She trailed off once again. "Can you tell us what happened?" I looked to the ruined windows of my school and then back to her.

"The murder had a bomb." I replied and she gasped. "I wouldn't have made it out if it wasn't for Doctor..." I paused, looking to him.

"John Smith." He said, holding his hand out to me. I shook it.

"Margret Walters." I turned back to the Vice Principal. Doctor John Smith saved my life." The Vice Principal gave me a look of bewilderment.

"You're very lucky to be alive. Now, lets have the paramedics take a look at you." She took my arm and tried to pull me away, but I shook her off.

"I'd rather not, today's been trying." I replied and her gaze hardened.

"Which is exactly why we need to speak with you _now_." I really didn't want to. Coming up with the bomb lie was hard enough, I couldn't bluff my way through a police investigation! And as for the paramedics, I was completely unharmed anyway, except for a few little cuts on my hand from the glass box containing the axe. I looked down at the ground and realized that I must have dropped it in the hallway. Pity, it would have been nice to have had it in the lab.

"I'd rather not!" My voice rose in pitch as she grabbed my arm again. This woman was obviously quite upset, but I did not like people touching me. My eyes widened as John Smith took a small step in front of me.

"Maggie has been through a rather tough day, I'll see that she gets to a hospital. He took my hand and I found I was not as angry at him as I was with Vice Principal Baxter.

"You are not authorized." The Doctor silenced her by holding up an ID card. Wow, he really was a doctor.

"I'm a Doctor and I'll keep you informed." He promised as he led me away. "Now, where is your car?" He asked me as we entered the almost empty parking lot. I supposed that all the other people had gone home. Good.

"Right there." I said, pointing to my rather dated, rather faded pickup truck. It was a dark green in color, peeling in some places, and was in desperate need of a new coat of paint. I pulled out my keys from the pocket of my faded jeans and unlocked her. I opened the door and got into the drivers seat.

The Doctor got into the passengers side, but did not look too happy about it.

"Where to then?" He asked, buckling his seat belt. I felt a little bit dizzy, but I knew that I was an excellent driver, so I didn't worry about that too much.

"Home. Grandmother and granddad will be worried sick." I replied. "And hospitals make me nervous. I need sleep." He nodded as I pushed on the gas, propelling my car forward. "Are there other aliens up there?" I asked carefully, raising one hand to point towards the sky.

"Millions and millions. Even I don't know them all." He replied and my heart froze.

"Will they be back?" I sounded like I was being strangled.

"They can't see to keep to themselves to be honest." He replied and my body went rigid. "Are you scared?" He asked me and I nodded quickly.

"Terrified." I told him.

"Don't be. I won't let anything hurt you." His answer puzzled me.

"How did you know my name?" I asked, thinking back to the garage.

"You told me." He replied and I rolled my eyes.

"No, before that, in the garage. You called me Maggie. Only Heather calls me Maggie. And then you did it again, just now. How?" The Doctor smiled in an almost suspicious way.

"I'm the Doctor." He replied simply and I groaned a little bit.

"What does that even mean?" I more yelled than asked as I swerved around some one trying to cut me off. "How can you be _the_ Doctor?"

"I make people better. Much more so than other doctors." I decided not to argue with him. Perhaps that is what made him a bit less on edge.

"Well, you saved my life today. Thank you, Doctor." I said, sounding more serious than I had sounded in years, he seemed to notice.

"You're very welcome, Maggie Walters." I pulled up into the driveway of my grandparents old house.

"You may have saved my life," I began, "But you're out of your mind and grandmother will kill me if I bring a guy home. Get out of the car." The Doctor looked a bit upset, but complied.

"I'll see you again, Maggie." He said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"How do you know?" I asked, unable to keep myself from sounding like a spoiled child.

"I always know." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off down the street with me staring after him in wonder.


End file.
